EATS

Italian food, probably more than any other ethnic cuisine, inspires fierce loyalties and obstinate opinions in American diners.

So let's hear it, gang: Tell us about your favorite local Italian spot, from red sauce joints to the pricier fine dining venues. Post a comment in the area below, or email us at dining@dallasnews.com. We'll publish some of these comments in a print version that will appear in a future issue of Guide.

We certainly performed our due diligence on this topic, power-eating through a slew of Italian restaurants in the last few weeks to compose this list. As always, some of you may be surprised at what we included and what we didn't. The inspirations behind Italian restaurants come from many different sources: Some focus on specialties true to a region in Italy; some embrace the tomato-rich fusion that typifies Italian-American cooking. These were the spots that, for us, lived up to the intentions behind the restaurant and its menu.

Here they are:

From my e-box:

A quick stop at the supermarket: Balancing bananas, peppers and tomatoes in your arms, you rush from the vegetable counter to the self-service scales in order to print out the respective price label. But what was that number again, the one you had to enter for the tomatoes?

There will soon be an end to this constant running back and forth between the vegetable counter and the scales. Working on behalf of the industrial weighing company Mettler-Toledo, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB in Karlsruhe have developed a webcam module for self-service scales. "The scales automatically recognize which fruit or vegetables are to be weighed and ask the customer to choose between only those icons that are relevant -- such as tomatoes, vine-ripened tomatoes and beefsteak tomatoes," states IITB scientist Sascha Voth. Customers can confirm the correct variety on a touch screen.

In celebration of the original Inwood location's 50th anniversary, all Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse restaurants will offer all sandwiches for $2.99 next Wednesday, Aug. 20.

No coupon is required, but there is a limit of two andwiches per person. See the Sonny Bryan's website for the location nearest you.

Another restaurant is about to bite the dust, but not because of economic hard times or lack of a following. A new landlord, building redo and the prospect of higher rents mean the Adams family will shut down their popular Metro Diner in Preston Center on Aug. 22, according to Preston Hollow People. It also means losing another chip of history in disposable Dallas; Metro's been there since 1963. The family is looking for another location, but the future remains fuzzy.

In the meantime, the diner will make a sharp turn into the past. Starting Aug. 19, it will offer a special menu priced for 1963. Metro Diner is one of six restaurants owned by the family. You can still enjoy their coffee-shop cookin' at the Metro Diner at 3309 Gaston, Wayne's Beckley Grill at 1619 N. Beckley, and Pitt Grill at 2316 Davis. Here's a shout out to the People folks for bringing us the story.

Good Deal Food Network star Dave Lieberman will appear on Channel 4 KDFW-TV at 8:50 a.m. today. He will demo one of his new tapas recipes, Fresh Chorizo and Piquillo Pepper Bites With Shaved Manchego Cheese, finished with Spanish olive oil.

Afterward he'll go to Channel 8 WFAA-TV where he will demo Lemon Poached Shrimp With Spicy Gazpacho. This demo will take place after 9:30 a.m.; stay tuned for the show time.